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Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves

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Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves
Film poster
FrenchCeux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau
Directed byMathieu Denis
Simon Lavoie
Produced byHany Ouichou
StarringCharlotte Aubin
Laurent Bélanger
Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez
Gabrielle Tremblay
CinematographyNicolas Canniccioni
Edited byMathieu Denis
Production
company
Art&Essai
Distributed byK-Films Amérique
Release date
  • September 13, 2016 (2016-09-13) (Toronto)
[1]
Running time
184 minutes[2]
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (French: Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) is a 2016 Canadian drama film directed by Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie. It stars Charlotte Aubin, Laurent Bélanger, Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez and Gabrielle Tremblay as four young people, veterans of the 2012 Quebec student protests, who have been disillusioned by the failure of their past activism to effect meaningful social change and now engage in small-scale public vandalism.[3]

The film competed in the Platform program at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won for Best Canadian Film. It was also nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture.

Cast

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Production

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The 2012 Quebec student protests in Montreal inspired the film.

The film was conceived by co-directors Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie, inspired by the 2012 Quebec student protests. The directors claimed they spoke with students during the protests while showing their film Laurentia (Laurentie). Denis and Lavoie said they often wondered what happened to these students in later years.[4] Denis stated his conviction that the protests were important but unsuccessful, noting the Quebec Liberal Party, which governed in 2012, was back in government after the 2014 Quebec general election.[3]

While showing Laurentia in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Denis and Lavoie considered partnering on another project. Lavoie was particularly influenced by mug shots of four young people who placed smoke bombs on the Montreal Metro during the protests.[5] The title was a phrase used by Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, a leader of the French Revolution, and was initially intended as a working title.[6]

For the film, the directors sought a youthful cast, securing Aubin, Lussier-Martinez, Bélanger and Tremblay. Lussier-Martinez had previously acted in the TV series 19-2.[3] Aubin stated the screenplay attracted her for how the characters symbolized larger ideas.[7] For the transgender character of Klas Batalo, Denis and Lavoie searched for a real-life transgender performer, and found Tremblay, a trans woman.[8] Tremblay said she idolized the protest for creating a social movement, and drew on personal experiences to portray her character.[7] Production was continuing through January 2016, and Denis estimated the last of the editing would occur in the spring or summer of 2016.[3]

Release

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The film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016,[9] and has been selected for the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.[10] A wider release was planned for the spring of 2017.[4] The Quebec release was later scheduled for 3 February.[11]

The film was included in the travelling Top Ten Film Festival, screened in Toronto from 13 to 26 January 2017.[12][13] Plans were made for screenings in Vancouver, Montreal and Edmonton between 13 January and 29 January 2017.[14]

Reception

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Critical reception

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On 7 December 2016, it was named to TIFF's annual Canada's Top 10 list.[15] In La Presse, Nathalie Petrowski wrote the film was unusual, amazing and occasionally shocking, and was long but not dull at any time.[16] Odile Tremblay, writing for Le Devoir, called the film poetic, and said the film received applause at TIFF but was also divisive.[17] Martin Gignac called the film dense and unrestrained, with great cinematography.[11]

Outside Canada, Scott Tobias, writing for Variety, called it "a tense, mournful, and profoundly ambivalent portrait of radicalism".[18] Adam Cook of The New York Times called it "unapologetically abrasive and politically charged".[13]

Accolades

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For producing the film, Hany Ouichou received the Canadian Media Producers Association's Emerging Producer Award, a $5,000 prize conferred by a jury headed by Robert Lantos.[1][19] Tremblay became the first trans woman nominated for the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress.[8]

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 19 – 30 April 2017 Grand Prize - Avant-Garde and Genre Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie Won [20]
Canadian Screen Awards 12 March 2017 Best Motion Picture Hany Ouichou Nominated [21]
Best Director Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Gabrielle Tremblay Nominated
Prix Iris 4 June 2017 Best Film Hany Ouichou Nominated [22][23]
Best Actress Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez Nominated
Best Art Direction Éric Barbeau Won
Best Editing Mathieu Denis Nominated
Toronto International Film Festival 8–18 September 2016 Best Canadian Film Hany Ouichou Won [24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Jeremy Kay (8 September 2016). "North American briefs: CMPA Feature Film Producer Awards winners announced at TIFF". Screen Daily. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau". Régie du cinéma Québec (in French). 19 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Tremblay, Odile (27 January 2016). "Mathieu Denis termine son film inspiré de la crise étudiante de 2012 (Entrevue)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  4. ^ a b Gladel, Cécile (11 August 2016). "5 ans plus tard, le destin imaginé de quatre carrés rouges". Radio-Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  5. ^ Dunlevy, T'cha (27 January 2017). "Vive la révolution! No half measures in Quebec duo's TIFF-winning film". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  6. ^ Brownstein, Bill (16 April 2015). "History revisited: Director Mathieu Denis brings FLQ teen to life in Corbo". The Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  7. ^ a b Lévesque, François (28 January 2017). "Les vrais révolutionnaires". Le Devoir. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b Guy, Chantal (20 January 2017). "Gabrielle Tremblay: la revanche sur le passé". La Presse. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  9. ^ "TIFF '16: Two Canadian features to bow in Platform program". Playback. 11 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Generation 2017: Peril and Promise – Walking Fine Lines and Life on the Road" (Press release). Internationale Filfestspiele Berlin. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  11. ^ a b Gignac, Martin (13 January 2017). "10 œuvres à surveiller par les cinéphiles". Metro Montreal. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  12. ^ Hertz, Barry (7 December 2016). "TIFF praises little-known Canadian movies with Top Ten Film Festival". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  13. ^ a b Cook, Adam (13 January 2017). "Glimpsing Canada's Northern Lights at Canada's Top Ten Film Festival". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  14. ^ Knight, Chris (7 December 2016). "The Toronto International Film Festival has announced its picks for the top Canadian films of 2016". The National Post. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  15. ^ "'Telling stories that show Canadians who we are:' TIFF unveils top 10 Canadian films of 2016". CBC News. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  16. ^ Petrowski, Nathalie (15 September 2016). "TIFF: lendemains amers du printemps érable". La Presse. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  17. ^ Tremblay, Odile (19 September 2016). ""Ceux qui font les révolutions…" élu meilleur film canadien". Le Devoir. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  18. ^ Tobias, Scott (20 September 2016). "Film Review: 'Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves'". Variety. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  19. ^ "Roger Frappier and Hany Ouichou win CMPA Feature Film Producer Awards at TIFF" (Press release). Canadian Media Producers Association. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  20. ^ Mango, Agustin (29 April 2017). "'Niñato' Wins Buenos Aires Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  21. ^ "The Canadian Screen Awards nominations are out!". Now. 17 January 2017.
  22. ^ Boutros, Magdaline (5 April 2017). "Gala Québec cinéma: Juste la fin du monde et Two Lovers and a Bear en tête". La Presse. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  23. ^ Lauzon, Yan (1 June 2017). "Gala des artisans Québec cinéma: Xavier Dolan amorce sa récolte". Le Journal de Montreal. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  24. ^ "TIFF People's Choice Award cements La La Land's place in Oscar race". Entertainment Weekly. 18 September 2016.
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